PRIMARY SCHOOL REORGANISATION DECISION
The Education, Skills and Employment Portfolio (ESE) has been working with stakeholders to review our primary school structure. A critical priority is to shape our primary provision to meet the educational needs of our children. Currently, we have a number of challenges in our primary school provision, including a declining number of children living on St Helena, a shortage of qualified teachers, an increasing need for support for our students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, and concerning educational outcomes.
The review of our primary school provision was informed by extensive public consultation, including input from leaders and staff within the ESE Portfolio, a wide range of education data, input from key local stakeholders, and contributions by external experts, which has resulted in a series of essential reports. The ESE Portfolio expresses its sincere gratitude to parents, staff, the wider community and external experts from Hampshire Local Authority (HLA) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) for their monumental support throughout this educational journey of change.
After careful consideration of the evidence and the clear views of parents and the broader community, demonstrating their strong support for improved education provision the following decision has been taken.
As of September 2026, St Helena will operate a brand new primary school structure. Our primary school provision will be offered from two school sites only, comprising of:
- A Key Stage 1 school that will cater for Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which include Nursery and Reception and Years 1 and 2 students, which will operate on the existing Harford School site, and
- A Key Stage Two school, which will cater for Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 students which will operate from the existing St Paul’s School site.
SHG is determined that the needs of pupils, staff and parents are central to the transition process, which will commence in April 2025, with the aim of opening our two new schools at the beginning of the new school year in September 2026. This lead-in time provides us with a generous 17-month window to honour the rich contributions our existing three schools – Harford, St Paul’s and Pilling – have made to our island community. This timeframe will also support our preparations to open our two new schools, on existing school sites. The new structure and ways of operating will recognise and take the positive aspects of the existing schools, whilst recognising that there are some significant areas of improvement that we can make through the new approach.
There is still much work to be done over the next year to transition to these new arrangements. We recognise that the thought of change can bring concern and worry and therefore, we will work closely with our staff during this transition. Emphasis will be placed on training, development and support for our existing staff. This will ensure our staff and school leaders feel confident and ready for the implementation of the new arrangements, which bring with them potential benefits that will, over time, significantly improve education standards for our young people.
Other practical considerations include:
- As part of this process, school leaders will be working in partnership with the students to secure new names for our two new schools.
- The ESE will be working with our school bus providers to secure updated transport routes that are best suited to our new school arrangements.
- Through the Economic Development Investment Programme (EDIP), the two primary schools will undergo phased facility upgrades.
- Working in partnership with our secondary school will continue to be a key priority, to secure the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) standards, our recently approved education standards framework.
This decision has been made to initiate a much needed educational journey that will bring opportunities for improvement, which support a determination in the community to improve educational outcomes for our primary children.
We seek your continued support in prioritising the needs of children and young people as central to community decisions. Education is, an engine of change, and is fundamentally at the heart of St Helena’s future journey.
SHG
19 March 2025
